How Demographics Affect What Is Built and What Is Not

If you’ve grown up in a small town, you know the struggle of limited business choices. In contrast, teenagers living in urban areas enjoy the luxury of shopping malls, multiplex movie theaters, and other social opportunities. Perhaps unknowingly, you’ve experienced the demographic effect on construction. Contractors and business dedicate a large portion of project time to demographic research. Demographics affect what is built and what is not. As researchers improve tools, the demographic effect on construction will grow even more important.

Demographic Effect on Construction

Important information in demographics

Before demographic research was an integral part of construction and marketing plans, building a new business or housing complex was a shot in the dark. Contrary to pop culture belief, if you build it, they don’t always come. Different areas of a city have different needs. Researchers nail down specific needs by studying demographics.

Specific traits like age, household income, marital status, number of children, and education level are all used to decided when and what to build. Las Vegas construction companies walk the complex line created by demographics more than any other city. Older generations move to Sin City to enjoy the sun, low cost of living, and senior discounted entertainment during their golden years while millennials are moving to what some are calling the next Silicon Valley, to strike it rich in their business venture.

So what is the demographic effect on construction brought by these two diverse groups?

How developers decide what is built and what is not

Seniors have the largest area of influence in the medical industry because of the impact of aging population on health care. What this means for construction companies is more hospitals and medical research facilities. So even if you think a new coffee place would have been great on the street corner close to your house, the demographics of your neighbors could say otherwise.

Social impacts of an aging population also have a demographic effect on construction in areas like: